Bulgarian Parliament Rejects Proposal to Classify Laughing Gas as a Narcotic

The Bulgarian Parliament has decided against adopting a draft decision to classify nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, as a narcotic substance under the Law on the Control of Narcotic Substances and Precursors. The proposal, put forward by Kornelia Ninova from the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and a group of deputies, was not approved.

In a re-vote, the proposal received 68 votes in favor, 31 against, and 65 abstentions. The primary argument against the inclusion was that laughing gas does not meet the criteria to be classified as a drug and thus should not be listed among controlled substances.

Ivaylo Mitkovski from "We Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria" (WCC-DB) remarked that it is inappropriate to add a substance to such a list if it does not meet the established criteria. Alexander Simidchiev, also from WCC-DB, proposed two potential approaches: either prohibiting the sale of laughing gas under the Health Act or officially declaring it a drug. He criticized the current approach, suggesting that more effective solutions could be adopted by amending the Health Act, including the possibility of criminalizing the substance through further legislative processes.